


God, I Hope You're Satisfied

by ddotmac



Category: X-Ray & Vav (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Slightly more than canon-typical violence, idk what else to put in here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-01-27 15:28:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12584908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddotmac/pseuds/ddotmac
Summary: (INDEFINITELY ON HOLD) The story we were told of X-Ray and Vav rising up to defeat The Mad King is completely true. The idea that their motivations lied only with perceptions of good and evil, however, is not. Their pasts are intertwined, even if they didn't know it, and it influenced every decision they made for the rest of their lives. This is the complete story.





	1. Prologue: The Mad King's Lament

The Mad King was lying on a dingy sofa in an abandoned house. It was the only kind of place he could reasonably use as a refuge. Getting the whole world to know his face had inevitably been a mistake; he was too sharp to ignore, too defined not to recognize. Now he couldn't go anywhere without being caught. He threw a pillow over his face, forcing himself to close his eyes. He hadn't slept since...since before his escape. It had been three days since the escape, from the prison they were holding him in. Just over two weeks since he'd been defeated by X-Ray and Vav.

The name left a bitter taste in his mouth. He bit his lip and crushed the pillow harder against himself. _No, you asshole,_ he thought, scowling. _You deserve to feel this way._ He repeated the word 'X-Ray' over and over again in his head until he couldn't help but say it out loud. It was quietly at first, but quickly grew in volume until he was on his feet, screaming at the top of his lungs and lunging towards a pillar in the center of the room.

He punched it at full force, and grimaced against the pain, but it didn't matter. He punched it again, and again, until he had made two holes about the size of his head. Wincing, he clutched his hands to his chest; he didn't have to look to know that his knuckles were bleeding. He pressed his back to the wall and sank down slowly, drawing in ragged breaths. _You deserve to feel this way._

The thought very suddenly hit him that he didn't know what way it was that he felt. He was angry, sure, and frustrated, but that didn't mean anything. He had been frustrated in the past and never felt anything remotely like this. Such a drowning, melancholy emotion. His frustration had always driven him to act, forced him to rationalize and think logically about what to do next. He had always been able to twist that emotion, turn it cold, do something productive with it. It had never been like this, where he would rather have just curled up into a ball and died. He scowled, propping his elbows against his knees. What in the hell was this feeling?

Well, he had some idea. It was probably guilt, based on what he knew about it. His gut twisted at the idea that this one guy - a fucking _superhero,_ for crying out loud - had contorted his world into a restless existence where he could only mope around feeling _guilty_. It was pathetic. He felt pathetic.

_And when the time comes for him to choose who he really cares about, he'll cut you loose. Just like dear. Old. Dad._

His own words bounced around inside his head. He felt bad about saying that? Had he gone soft and fallen in love with X-R...with Ray again?

He shook his head vigorously, trying to focus on the pain in his hands instead of thinking about _him_. There was probably some kind of poetic irony to this, some metaphor about karma and his past coming to haunt him or whatever. He had been proverbially and literally defeated by the man he attempted to contain all those years ago. Technically, Ray had gotten his revenge. The Mad King put his head in his hands. He didn't know. He didn't even fucking know that he had. That was the saddest part of all of this, he thought, that he had finally achieved what he would have spent eons yearning after if he had known and literally no way of knowing that he'd already done it.

The worst part? He wasn't even sure if he was sorry.


	2. The Heroes Rise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X-Ray and Vav find their beginnings. The Mad King finds them too.

_"Bugger off, you meanies!" a boy with a thick British accent shouted, throwing his body in front of Ray's. The latter blinked, slowly processing what had just happened. He was holding his arms out and shouting at the guys who were bullying him. No one...no one had_ ever _defended him before. "Haven't you got better things to do?!"_

_"Whatever, you Russian dweeb," one of the bullies snarled, and they both walked away snickering to themselves. They were actually going to leave him alone?_

_He opened his mouth to say something, but the boy beat him to it, turning around and putting one hand on his shoulder. "You alright, mate?" he asked, genuinely concerned._

_Ray shrugged him off, hugging himself. "I'm fine. You didn't have to--"_

_"Those kids are a couple of bellends!" the boy continued, cutting him off abruptly. "Don't listen to them." Ray wasn't really sure how to respond. He squeezed his arm tighter and clenched his jaw, looking down towards the ground. This guy probably didn't care about him either. He was about to walk away when he heard, "You're pretty brave standing up to those two."_

_His frown deepened. "A lot of good it did," he grumbled._

_The boy bubbled, "Courage still counts for something!" Ray wanted to disagree, but he added, "You'd be a top superhero."_

_Ray looked up from the ground, surprised. "Heh...you think so?" Maybe he actually did care. There was only one way to find out. He took a deep breath and said, "Hey, uh, wanna come over to my house and play video games after school?"_

_"Sounds lush!" the boy replied cheerily._

_They smiled at each other. Ray felt his chest swell up with happiness. This was going to turn into something great, he could just tell._

Ray smiled, replaying the memory over and over in his mind. It made him really happy to think about. At the time, they couldn't have been much older than eight or nine. The comment about being a superhero could probably have been taken as a joke, or chalked up to being one of those silly things that children said because they didn't know any better. But Gavin had meant it. Every word. He still meant it now.

Ray and Gavin had been there for each other through everything. They'd been best friends for going on two decades. That number still marveled Ray to think about. Twenty years they'd known each other. Twenty years, and neither one of them had ever seemed to notice exactly how close they were getting. It was kind of laughable in a cheesy way. They defended each other through thick and thin and had no idea they were head over heels for each other.

As a matter of fact, they'd only come to that conclusion a couple of weeks ago. It was embarrassing that they both knew it should have happened _much_ sooner than it did. They already spent all of their time together; not a whole lot had changed except for the fact that they felt comfortable kissing each other now. Their relationship was great because they balanced each other out nicely. Gavin brought Ray down to earth and helped him think things through, and Ray helped Gavin to lose his inhibitions sometimes and have a little fun when it was okay.

Recently, Gavin had enthused often about his aspirations. They were a couple weeks into their relationship and Gavin had brought up the hero thing again. Ray wasn't sure at first if he was serious, but he kept talking about it - not that Ray didn't want to listen - bringing up costumes and possible names and what their team would be like. He slowly came to understand that he was being completely truthful, that this was really something he wanted to do. He had thought about it a lot and come to the conclusion that this was an awesome thing to do.

"Are you coming?"

Gavin's voice snapped him back to reality and he glanced up at his boyfriend. He had one hand on the doorknob, rubber gloves pulled up to his elbows, his logo taped to his shirt and a towel tied around his neck. Ray grinned and stood up off the couch. "Yep. Let's go."

***************

"Your morning delivery, my liege," one of Ryan's workers announced as he entered the room. He walked directly up to the desk, extending the tray at arm's length with head turned completely down and eyes at the floor. The corner of Ryan's mouth twitched. He'd been taught well.

Ryan wordlessly accepted the tray from him, scanning it for its contents. The three newspapers he regularly read to check for any suspicious activity and a mug of coffee. Everything was exactly in place. He took a sip of the coffee and set it down, his eyes flickering upwards. "Look at me." The man's head shot up, eyes wide and his fists balled at his side. He was obviously terrified, but clenched his jaw shut tightly and held his back straight. "Did you make this?" Ryan muttered under his breath.

The worker swallowed and said "...yes." Ryan raised his eyebrows.

He smiled and boomed, "It's delicious. Thank you very much." The man visibly deflated with relief, although still making an effort to maintain his posture. "You are dismissed." He dipped his head and turned on his heel, crossing the room in a few long strides and exiting.

He could hear the man's shoes clicking fast down the hallway for several seconds. Ryan smirked to himself. His favorite part of all this was messing with his employees. They were so easy to manipulate, and yet, there was something funny every single time about watching them squirm. Everyone was absolutely terrified of him, and he could not have asked for anything more in the world.

Of course, he was a subordinate as of right now. He grimaced, still not used to thinking of himself as an underling. It was a mild irritation that constantly buzzed just beneath the surface at best. _Working for the Corpirate is temporary,_ he reminded himself. _It is but a means to an end. I'll have what I want once this phase is over. He'll be out of the equation entirely._

Sighing, he regained his composure and took another drink, grabbing one of the newspapers in his left hand and whipping it straight so he could read. There hadn't been anything worth noting for the past several weeks; it seemed that Ryan and his associates had managed to keep themselves off the radar. He read the first headline and choked.

'X-Ray and Vav: Super Heroes? Or Super Morons?'

He slammed his cup down and gripped the edges of his desk with both hands as though the ground was violently shaking. _This isn't happening. This isn't fucking happening._

Biting the inside of his cheek, he dared to glance down at the paper again. Ray's face, confidently laughing, beamed back up at him. His heart sank into his stomach. How could he have known? Did he know? Did he remember? How could he possibly? This was, literally, what he had specifically tried to avoid above everything else.

Ryan reeled back and took several measured breaths, closing his eyes slowly. There was a possibility that he was becoming a vigilante for other reasons. He always did have an acute sense of justice, throwing himself into foolish situations just to do the right thing. It was very likely that this was simply a facet of that. _He hasn't remembered. There's no way for him to. It's okay._

Besides, he couldn't hardly be a threat. He sneered at the face of the man he assumed was Vav. Yes, very threatening, parading around with this clown in spandex leotards. It seemed to Ryan that there was something inherently more dignified about being a villain, generally speaking. They were a couple of morons and they were never going to amount to anything, and that was that. He repeated this in his head, trying to convince himself. After a few moments, he shoved the newspaper away and looked in the other direction. He felt sick to his stomach.

_This is fine. It's not going to turn into anything serious. They'll walk a couple of old ladies across the street and be swiftly forgotten._

He didn't believe it.


	3. Fostering Traitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Mad King isn't exactly thrilled with Hilda's new choice of friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in more than a month! School and home have both been a nightmare. I'm on break now and should be in a better situation, so expect more chapters more frequently ^u^

"Your lead scientist, Hilda, showed up for work on time as usual."

"Good."

"Uh, however, two people came in with her, and we believe them to be X-Ray and Vav."

The Mad King did not move, except for the involuntary widening of his eyes that contrasted starkly with his stoic, almost bored expression. _Shit._

"What are they doing here?" he asked through gritted teeth, clenching his other hand into a fist. The employee who'd brought the report gulped at the threat.

She sucked in a shaky breath and continued, "We're, uh, we're not sure. They appear to simply be looking around her lab at the moment."

Ryan stood up, glaring at nothing in particular and flattening the fabric on his chest. "You may finish your report later. I must attend to this immediately. Dismissed." If the woman was relieved by this, he couldn't tell, because she dipped her head and scampered out of the office as fast as she could. She really didn't want to be in his way when he was on a mission.

She was probably right to leave as soon as she did, for Ryan began storming through the building. He was knocking people aside, weaving through hallways and cubicles indiscriminately. They were all just obstacles in the way of his rage-fueled mind, focused only on reaching Hilda's laboratory.

He stepped inside an elevator, folding his arms and sneering down his nose at the floor. There were two scientists in the box with him, nervously glancing back and forth between him and each other. It was only after Ryan started drumming his fingers on his arm that one of them spoke up. "Uh, sir--"

The other scientist swiftly grabbed the first one's hand and pulled her back, shaking his head. He mouthed, _You shouldn't mess with him right now._ The first scientist swallowed and nodded, falling back into line with her coworker. As soon as the door was open, Ryan was back to nearly running through the halls, surveying the doors, looking for the only one he needed.

It slid open when he got close enough to the sensor and he stood in the doorway, scanning the room with an analytical eye. Orf floated by herself in a corner, shuffling some papers around. There was nobody here. Nothing even seemed to be out of the ordinary. Suddenly he noticed Hilda - she had been rummaging through a box of parts under a table - and started a bit. "Goodness, Hilda," he chuckled, "You scared me."

Her head popped up and she looked a bit surprised. She straightened up, fixing her lab coat. "Oh, hello, Mr. Haywood! Sorry, I must not have heard the door open. I was looking for something and..." She trailed off, hoping that was explanation enough.

Ryan walked over to her, the door shutting itself behind him. "Yes, I know that you have a tendency to shut out everything when you get focused. Think nothing of it." She seemed relieved. He fought the urge to show his suspicion. "So, has anything...strange happened lately?"

Hilda narrowed her eyes slightly. "...you mean in my experiments?" She seemed to have a realization and held her hands up in defense. "I--I haven't been doing any of the work you told me I couldn't do, I promise!" she exclaimed. "I understand the safety regulations and the, uh--" Her face flushed and she shook her head. "If that's what you were getting at. I haven't done any of...that."

Ryan smiled at her and said, "Well, I'm glad you're at least following that instruction." The two of them laughed softly. "I more meant if anything had come up that I should know about. Any breakthroughs, things of that nature?"

Hilda pushed her glasses up her face. "No," she said thoughtfully after a long pause. "Nothing particularly interesting has happened recently."

Ryan made a small noise to himself. "How goes your progress on your pet project?" he said a bit suddenly, as though just remembering its existence.

Hilda blushed a little again, embarrassed. "Oh, my, uh...modifications for Orf? That's not really... They're fine." He didn't need to know about the battle suit.

"Okay, then I'll let you get back to it," Ryan said cheerfully, completely convinced that she was lying. That was okay. He would find out what the truth was soon enough. He turned on his heel and folded his hands behind his back, exiting the room and trying not to stomp back to his office.

"Alright, nice to see you! Bye!" Hilda shouted after him. The door shut and she could feel a weight being lifted from her shoulders. She breathed, "Oh my god, thank god he's gone."

Orf flew over from where she had been pretending to sort blueprints. "That was a close one!" she chimed, happy as always. "Crisis averted. Job security at 100%!"

There was a blast that shook the entire building, a large hole crumbling from Hilda's wall. A few people in the section Ryan was walking through collapsed, some held desperately onto their desks and tables. Ryan felt it too, but it only stirred up fury within him. He ground his teeth, clenched his fists, and thought only about making it back to the top floor without killing somebody. He had no evidence, he had no witnesses, he had nothing other than a gut feeling and a bone to pick with two particular superheroes.

Stepping into the elevator alone, he leaned back against the wall and let the tremors rock him. He closed his eyes gently, something close to tears simmering in the back of his throat. _When all of this is over, what's-her-face is dead._


	4. What Was Left (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things were excluded on purpose. We are not concerned about the story. We are only concerned about the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uhhh I was trying to write this chapter and the entire draft got deleted on accident. I'm having to recover all of it from memory. Expect the second part of this chapter in ~10 days

"You're fired."

"What??"

"You heard me. You're fired." Ryan felt no remorse at the emotions clearly twitching just behind her skin. He had hated her for years. This was a day he had waited for for so long, and the vindication was so sweet. "I traced X-Ray and Vav's gear back to our laboratory, and your handiwork specifically." He contained a smile as her eyes went wide. "You went against my direct orders not to test equipment that was possibly unsafe for humans, and it got the city destroyed." He put his elbows on the desk and leaned forward. "There must be repercussions for your actions."

She grappled with a justification. "But, sir--"

He cut her off by holding up his hand and said, "Stop. Surely, you do not think you are above consequences. You questioned my wisdom--" (Hilda had to try very hard not to roll her eyes here) "--and you're lucky more people didn't get hurt. If I were simply to let a woman who was so loose with safety continue to work here, well, what would that say about me?"

Hilda looked at the desk. She had to be graceful. She inhaled, gathered herself up, and said, "Very well. I will go pack up--"

"No," he interrupted again. "You will be leaving immediately."

Now her true emotions started to shine through, her mouth falling open in protest. She wanted desperately to beg him to reconsider, to at least let her go back for Orf, but his gaze kept her silent. She felt weirdly like a moth pinned inside a glass box.

_Come on, Hilda, you're a scientist. There's a way out of this. You just have to think of it._

She couldn't.

"It's been an honor working with you, Mr. Haywood."

Ryan nodded curtly, not at all perturbed by the ease with which he could lie through his teeth. "And to you as well."

 

**********

 

"You _fired Hilda_?!"

Ryan scowled, swirling his cup. "She was only going to get in the way. I don't know what you wanted me to do."

The Corpirate paced around the room, burying his face in his hands. "We needed her," he mumbled. He turned back to Ryan and almost shouted, "You dumb bastard, we needed her!"

"She was already starting to suspect things of me," Ryan replied, his voice rising to match his partner's, which made him sound a lot more like a child throwing a temper tantrum than he ever would have admitted. "Hilda was incredibly intelligent; she lied to me for years about how much she really knew, and I have reason so suspect that she would have started digging deeper with the slightest provocation. She had to be eliminated for the sake of the plan."

The Corpirate sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Did you at least get the final version?"

"Of course. What do you take me for?"

He chose not to answer that.

Ryan downed the rest of his drink and stood up, crossing the room in a few long strides and patting his associate on the shoulder. "It's all going to work out, trust me. Hilda was but a means to an end."

The Corpirate smiled to himself as Ryan exited, closing the door behind him. _Oh, if you only knew._

 

**********

 

"My boss wants to make sure your lab is pulling its weight for the plan," said the young man in the turtleneck, glaring and attempting to be intimidating. He folded his arms. "He's not paying you to make baby steps." Ryan was fairly convinced that The Corpirate only had about five people who actually worked for him, trying to act like a group of 25 or 30. Once he'd heard one, he'd heard them all. Every single one of them was a sycophantic, mindless puppet with a funny accent. They were easily manipulated, and never ceased to amuse.

He lowered his voice a little more than usual, held his stoic expression, and enunciated his words just a little too much as he said, "The amplification device is complete. Everything is ready for phase two."

The lackey began to look uncertain, a bit afraid of having questioned The Mad King. Ryan let a smile cross his lips. It was almost too easy.

Swiftly recovering, the lad furrowed his eyebrows as he retook control of the conversation. "Also, he hopes there won't be any interferences from any would-be heroes."

Ryan's heart only stammered for a second. He had become better at dealing with discussing them. "You can assure your boss that if X-Ray and Vav try to interfere, I'll have some new souvenirs for my _dead people collection_." The kid was visibly intimidated by that, too, but Ryan could take no enjoyment out of it. He had no idea what would happen if he saw the two of them. _Their gear was made by Hilda. Clearly they know each other. She's not stupid enough to break into this place alone. If she's coming, they're coming. They could already be here._

Before he could think about it any further, there was the sound of metal shrieking and bending and then a quick snap. A few pieces of the duct fell to the floor and brought with them a very stunned Hilda. Ryan composed himself and crossed the room to stand over her. She spit out an expletive before staring daggers at him. He folded his arms behind his back, sneering down his nose at her. "Well, well, well. Look who's back. It's what's-her-face."

_She's here! X-Ray and Vav are with her! They're probably somewhere in the building right now! Do something!_

He shut those thoughts down and, against his better judgment, hauled Hilda up by the hood.


	5. What Was Left (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. My bad. I've been doing other, less interesting writing. If any of you are interested in my essays on communism or Alexander Hamilton, hit me up, but probably not, so instead, have this.

The Mad King was always one for flair. He thought that if you could do something in a dramatic way, you should. It was, more often than not, better to do something in style than to leave it the way it was. As such, he was waiting in the darkness holding Hilda close to himself with the tips of his crown to her temple. A bit melodramatic? Yes, but the reveal would make it all worth it. She struggled every now and then, reaching desperately for Orf, but he could hold her back easily. She had said repeatedly that X-Ray and Vav weren't with her, but the way she kept darting her eyes and fidgeting told him everything he needed to know.

Like clockwork, the two heroes walked into the room and directly towards Orf. Ryan smiled to himself. _Lamb to the slaughter._ It was, quite simply, one of the easiest tricks out there, most commonly known as "moths to a flame". They really were morons. Vav tried to pull her out of the tractor beam, as he had anticipated. They were too close in proximity to avoid her outlash and too stupid to move out of the way. Everything was falling _so_ nicely into place.

"Greetings. How are you functioning today?"

Ryan hadn't done any _actual_ corruption of her personality; he had simply overridden it. The mannerisms he'd programmed specifically for this encounter were designed to intimidate and confuse the two heroes so that the attack caught them off guard. It wasn't much, and it may have seemed a little unnecessary to the king's benefactors, but as previously stated. Flair.

The lights clunked on loudly as Orf began to transform, huge limbs and vicious claw-hands erupting from inside her. Hilda's jaw dropped as she watched; probably still a scientist at heart, probably wondering how he had managed to fit all of that in such a tiny robot. He couldn't help but smirk. After all, it was she who invented the spatial rift technology necessary to do such a thing.

His eyes fell on the heroes and, as though he was drawn with a magnet, they jumped to Ray. His heart pounded in his ears.

_"Wait, are you wearing a kilt?"_

_"I...drinks?"_

_"Oh, you... don't want to leave?"_

_"What the hell is wrong with you?!"_

"Vav! Noooo!"

He was shaken from his thoughts by his actual voice, and it surprised him so much that his knees very nearly buckled. Ray, _his_ Ray, who he thought he'd never see again. Orf picked him up in one gigantic hand, fingers wrapped entirely around his body as he struggled, and Ryan had to find it in him to turn off his emotions. He was The Mad King, and nothing more. They had never known each other.

He laughed, and it was perfect, and it was everything he had ever practiced it to be, as Hilda's gaze fell, horrified, onto the monster he had turned Orf into. "You fell right into my trap," he drawled, with half-lidded eyes and a curling smile, and he was perfect. He was pristine and untouchable and malignant. He was something just other than human.

"Orf!" Hilda cried, struggling to pull Ryan's arm away from her neck. It accomplished nothing. "What have you done to her?" she snapped, knowing even then that it wouldn't do her much good.

"I made some improvements to make her more... suited for my hobbies." His pause was calculated, intended to frighten just enough to send her further into submission. _I am a villain. I am the Mad King. This is nothing I haven't done before._

Ray barked, "Like what, model planes?"

Ryan had to shake it off. "Like delicious murder!" was what he came up with in the reflexive amount of time he had to answer, which made even him cringe a little, but he had established a brand and this seemed to be on it, so he progressed without incident. "You can't stop our evil plan to take over the city!" _Yes. Provoke them._

"Plan?" X-Ray was twisting over his shoulder to look at Ryan. "Man, we're just breaking in to steal back Hilda's stuff."

Vav emerged from a pile of crumpled cardboard boxes somewhere behind him. "Yeah, what are you on about?"

_Fuck._

"It's too late to stop us now," he continued. _Uhh, pretend they already know what I'm talking about? Is that going to fix this??_ "All will kneel before the Mad King!" _Ego-stroking. That's good. They know I do that. Th--_

His thoughts and his evil laugh were cut off by Hilda's elbow connecting with his Adam's apple, hard, causing him to grunt and throw his arms out. He stumbled back and grasped at his neck with his free hand, barely caring that the freed Hilda was bolting away from him at top speed. She leapt onto Orf's back, who released her grip on X-Ray in surprise, trying to swing at Hilda. Ryan swallowed hard and turned to face the two superheroes. He had to fight him. _He had his chance and he blew it. If he didn't want to be standing here right now, he already wouldn't be._

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" Vav said, pumping his fist in a display of defiance. Ryan's eyes barely flickered over him, as if to say, 'Oh, don't worry. It's not you I'm concerned about.'

He laughed again, the pressure wearing down on his voice. "You paupers are no match for my cunning genius!"

"Gross, you're gonna do what to us?!" Ray yelled, and it was the first time in several months that Ryan had genuinely wanted to laugh. He wanted to scoop Ray up in his arms and tell him how adorable he was, and then Ray would smile, and they would be ensconced in each other. He didn't even hear what Vav said as the longing that had been brimming for years hit him for the first time.

His mind was returned to the conflict by Hilda screaming for help, batting away Orf's deadly limbs. "Not so fast!" he screamed, flinging his crown (which he had very expertly learned how to do in the spare time he had waiting for Monarch Labs to fulfill its true purpose) towards her, but it was deflected away. He reached up and caught it again, confused.

"Dude! I did something! Yeah!" Ray called out in excitement.

Ryan turned around, heart hammering. If he didn't think of something fast, this was going to end very poorly. "I'm going to tear off your arms and use them to applaud your demise," he snarled, launching his crown again on the last syllable. Vav attempted to intercept, but it slammed right into Ray's face (not what he was aiming for, but doable), propelling him across the room. He could barely understand what anyone was saying. It all sounded distant, like he was trapped underneath a frozen lake. Behind him, Orf tossed Hilda to the floor, a groan of pain escaping her.

She righted herself as much as possible and held onto her side (she must have sustained an injury there) while propping herself up with her other arm and clenching her fist, legs drawn close to her body. "Damn you, Mad King," she hissed, and it gave Ryan pause. He'd never heard her call him that before. She had never believed any of the rumors about his true nature. "You really are a maniac."

"Heheheh, yes," he said, steepling his fingers. _That's kind of the point, dumbass._ "And now you will be turned into a meat puddle. Orf! Kill her." And just for effect, he added lowly, "And whisper my name as you do it."

Orf picked up Hilda by the midsection, who struggled wildly, a panicked expression on her face. "Orf! You gotta remember me!" She leaned forward pathetically, on the verge of tears. "I'm your friend!"

The display on Orf's screen glitched and wobbled, and Ryan frowned. It wasn't part of his protocol. This wasn't supposed to happen. "Hilda...? Friend!" It returned to its normal settings, Hilda giving where her nose would be a boop.

"What is this Disney bullshit?!" Ryan yelled, panicking. _That's not in the code. It must be a technical error. Is it possible that her original personality could have overridden mine if prompted? Is it that strong? Is she really that humanlike to begin with?_ The thoughts racing in his head only served to muddle his actions. "Orf! Goo-ify her!" It was a last-ditch attempt, but he knew it wouldn't work. He already knew the outcome of this game. He had lost Orf, and so he had lost. "I am your _master._ "

"CEO of Monarch Labs," she chimed, positive though she was mostly monotone. Her display turned red. "Enemy."

_But I had this all planned so intricately! What about the city? My associates? The Corpirate? They need me!_

Ray. It was Ray he hadn't accounted for.

_...No. They don't._

 


End file.
